That sounds plan a good idea- I can write up a simple bat script (or program if need be) that performs this step.
A program would be necessary to extract/decompress the majority of sounds/sfx.
I imagine that this 'loop hole' would only apply to sound files, as we would need to perform conversion of the 3d and image assets?
Edit:
The hand rail does look better, but it also doesn't make me feel like I'm in the Neocron universe. If we are at the point where hand railings stand out as the major aesthetic failing I think we are doing pretty good :)